TRANSFORMATION OFFICER: Thomson Reuters CEO Jim Smith told staff Tuesday the company was launching a review process of its business operations, which he warned could involved “many tough decisions,” WSJ reports. He also announced the appointment of a “chief transformation officer” to lead the process, elevating longtime company executive Neil Masterson. The announcement, made in a video emailed to staff, comes just a week after Mr. Smith told investors that there is still “ample room” for cost savings at the company, and after Thomson Reuters announced plans to eliminate 2,500 jobs from its core financial and risk division in February. More details may emerge later this morning, after Reuters editor-in-chief Stephen Adler addresses the newsroom for a question and answer session. More in the full post. Read More »

One of Apple Inc.’s touch-related patents, used as a cornerstone of its case against Samsung Electronics Co., has been invalidated by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

The firm declared invalid the entirety of Apple’s so-called “pinch-to-zoom” patent on Wednesday, according to a court filing from Samsung. The Korean electronics giant said in a statement to the court that the patent had been struck down on re-examination due to previous patents on record.

Samsung said the development supports its request for a new trial.

A Samsung spokesman declined to comment beyond the filing. An Apple spokeswoman didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

America’s broken patent system needs major reform to protect innovators and the public. Today, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is announcing a major new boost to its patent work: a half-million dollars in funding from entrepreneur Mark Cuban and game developer Markus “Notch” Persson.

“The current state of patents and patent litigation in this country is shameful,” said Cuban, owner of the Dallas Mavericks. “Silly patent lawsuits force prices to go up while competition and innovation suffer. That’s bad for consumers and bad for business. It’s time to fix our broken system, and EFF can help. So that’s why part of my donation funds a new title for EFF Staff Attorney Julie Samuels: ‘The Mark Cuban Chair to Eliminate Stupid Patents’.”

When Apple won its patent lawsuit againt Samsung, Mr Cuban went on a bit of a Twitter rant about the case — suggesting its things like the pinch-to-zoom patent that he’s thinking of while funding a chair devoted to the elimination of stupidity. “Obviously APPL didnt invent Patent Infringement Suits,” he wrote, “but they are certainly doing what APPL does and trying to perfect it.” Read More »